Effect of electroconvulsive therapy on neural oscillations in schizophrenia: A magnetoencephalography resting-state study

IF 9.7 1区医学 Q1 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Brain Stimulation Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-28 DOI:10.1016/j.brs.2026.103062

Yuanhao Li , Yuru Ling , Yuejun Li , Xinyu Fang , Xiangrong Zhang

{"title":"Effect of electroconvulsive therapy on neural oscillations in schizophrenia: A magnetoencephalography resting-state study","authors":"Yuanhao Li , Yuru Ling , Yuejun Li , Xinyu Fang , Xiangrong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.brs.2026.103062","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Schizophrenia is a complex, chronic mental disorder, and pharmacologic treatment alone is often insufficient. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a rapid-acting and widely employed physical intervention for schizophrenia, yet its underlying mechanisms remain elusive. The present study aims to elucidate how ECT modulates brain activity in patients with this disorder.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A total of 26 patients with schizophrenia scheduled for ECT and 24 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited. Resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG) data and clinical assessments, including the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), were acquired at baseline for patients with schizophrenia, and were repeated after the 3rd and 6th sessions of ECT.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>We found that, at baseline, patients exhibited characteristic abnormalities: elevated delta power, reduced alpha power, and a slower individual alpha peak frequency (IAPF) compared to the healthy controls. Following ECT, brain activity evolved in a gradual but consistent manner—slow-wave (delta and theta) power increased, whereas fast-wave (alpha, beta, and gamma) power declined. Importantly, the reduction in beta power over the bilateral prefrontal and right central cortices was significantly associated with the amelioration of positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Our findings suggest that ECT may induce a profound, progressive therapeutic shift in the brain's electrophysiological state, characterized by a spectral rebalancing toward slow-wave dominance. The selective suppression of prefrontal/central beta power appears to be a key neurophysiological correlate of clinical improvement, providing a putative mechanistic target for optimizing ECT protocols.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9206,"journal":{"name":"Brain Stimulation","volume":"19 2","pages":"Article 103062"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Brain Stimulation","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X26000392","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/2/28 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

Schizophrenia is a complex, chronic mental disorder, and pharmacologic treatment alone is often insufficient. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a rapid-acting and widely employed physical intervention for schizophrenia, yet its underlying mechanisms remain elusive. The present study aims to elucidate how ECT modulates brain activity in patients with this disorder.

Methods

A total of 26 patients with schizophrenia scheduled for ECT and 24 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited. Resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG) data and clinical assessments, including the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), were acquired at baseline for patients with schizophrenia, and were repeated after the 3rd and 6th sessions of ECT.

Results

We found that, at baseline, patients exhibited characteristic abnormalities: elevated delta power, reduced alpha power, and a slower individual alpha peak frequency (IAPF) compared to the healthy controls. Following ECT, brain activity evolved in a gradual but consistent manner—slow-wave (delta and theta) power increased, whereas fast-wave (alpha, beta, and gamma) power declined. Importantly, the reduction in beta power over the bilateral prefrontal and right central cortices was significantly associated with the amelioration of positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that ECT may induce a profound, progressive therapeutic shift in the brain's electrophysiological state, characterized by a spectral rebalancing toward slow-wave dominance. The selective suppression of prefrontal/central beta power appears to be a key neurophysiological correlate of clinical improvement, providing a putative mechanistic target for optimizing ECT protocols.

查看原文本刊更多论文

电休克治疗对精神分裂症患者神经振荡的影响：脑磁图静息状态研究。

目的：精神分裂症是一种复杂的慢性精神障碍，单靠药物治疗往往是不够的。电休克疗法是一种快速、广泛应用于精神分裂症的物理干预手段，但其潜在机制尚不明确。目前的研究旨在阐明ECT如何调节这种疾病患者的大脑活动。方法：共招募26例计划进行电痉挛治疗的精神分裂症患者和24例年龄和性别匹配的健康对照。在精神分裂症患者基线时获得静息状态脑磁图（MEG）数据和临床评估，包括阳性和阴性综合征量表（PANSS）和蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA），并在第3次和第6次ECT后重复。结果：我们发现，在基线时，患者表现出特征性异常：与健康对照相比，δ功率升高，α功率降低，个体α峰值频率（IAPF）较慢。在ECT之后，大脑活动以渐进但一致的方式进化——慢波（δ和θ）能量增加，而快波（α、β和γ）能量下降。重要的是，双侧前额叶和右侧中央皮质的β功率降低与精神分裂症患者阳性症状的改善显著相关。结论：我们的研究结果表明，电痉挛疗法可能会引起大脑电生理状态的深刻的、渐进的治疗转变，其特征是频谱再平衡向慢波主导。选择性抑制前额叶/中枢β功率似乎是临床改善的关键神经生理学相关，为优化ECT方案提供了一个假定的机制目标。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Brain Stimulation 医学-临床神经学

CiteScore

13.10

自引率

9.10%

发文量

256

审稿时长

72 days

期刊介绍： Brain Stimulation publishes on the entire field of brain stimulation, including noninvasive and invasive techniques and technologies that alter brain function through the use of electrical, magnetic, radiowave, or focally targeted pharmacologic stimulation. Brain Stimulation aims to be the premier journal for publication of original research in the field of neuromodulation. The journal includes: a) Original articles; b) Short Communications; c) Invited and original reviews; d) Technology and methodological perspectives (reviews of new devices, description of new methods, etc.); and e) Letters to the Editor. Special issues of the journal will be considered based on scientific merit.